To the uninformed, these requests may appear abusive, even degrading, but for a motivated assistant, they are often part of one’s daily tasks. The work of assistants, as implied by the name, is indeed to assist employers, or the person they work for, in all respects.
“When you have five minutes, please pick up my suit at the cleaner’s.”
“Go get me a coffee, and while you’re at it, pick up three tickets to tonight’s game.”
“You can have the day off, but before that I’d like you to pick up my kids at the daycare.”
For most assistants and secretaries, these tasks help facilitate their boss’s work by freeing them from the personal constraints that could affect their concentration and the quality of their work. In short, by organizing their boss’s vacation, assistants save them time and participate directly or indirectly in their professional success. Thus, very few assistants refuse to carry out an order from their employer, on the grounds that it does not match their qualifications.
However, to avoid unpleasant surprises, it’s better to define the extent of your responsibilities with your employer ahead of time. If assistants thinks that their tasks exceed the scope of their initial commitment, they can refuse them but at the same time run the risk of harming relations with their boss. Your refusal may be interpreted as a challenge to the hierarchy or as laziness.
There are nevertheless perfectly legitimate reasons to refuse work, especially if they can be considered moral harassment. According to the labour standards board, psychological harassment is vexatious conduct that is manifested by behaviour that harms the dignity or psychological, and even physical well-being of the employee. If your employer’s requests are detrimental to you personally, find out what recourse you have under the law and have your rights respected.
Finally, although the practice of asking assistants to run personal errands is widespread in the field, it is rarely officially condoned: none of the people interviewed as part of our research agreed to let us use their names.